Some printing processes produce a “full-bleed” printed page in which a printed image extends to at least one edge of the printed page. Common examples of a full-bleed printed page include full-page printed photographs. One traditional method for producing a full-bleed printed page is to print an image that is larger than the intended final size of the image onto a print medium that is also larger than the final size of the printed page. After forming the printed image on the print medium, a cutting device removes marginal portions of the print medium and part of the image to leave a full-bleed printed page. In an existing full-bleed printing technique, the print medium is commonly paper and the cutting process produces waste paper. The wasted paper increases the expense of full-bleed printing because the printing process requires the use of a print medium that is larger, and more expensive, than the minimum size of a print medium that would produce the full-bleed printed pages. For example, to produce a full-bleed printed page with a width of 19.5 inches, the printer uses paper rolls or sheets with a width of 20 inches. A finishing device cuts the paper to the smaller 19.5-inch size after the printing process. For high-volume printing, the additional expense for using the larger print medium size can substantially increase the printing costs, and produce a large amount of wasted paper.
High capacity inkjet printers can be used for printing full-bleed images. For example, a continuous feed or “web” inkjet printer prints ink images on an elongated print medium, such as a paper roll. The continuous feed inkjet printers can be used for high volume printing runs to produce a large number of full-bleed printed documents. The continuous feed printers typically include an array of fixed printheads that extend across a print zone and are wider in a cross-process direction than the width of the print medium in the cross-process direction. Existing inkjet printers are configured to deactivate some of the inkjets in the print zone to leave a margin on each side of the print medium in the cross-process direction. The margin ensures that ink drops ejected from the printheads in the printer are transferred to the print medium instead of backer rollers or other components in the printer. Ink may accumulate on components in the printer in amounts sufficient to degrade the quality of printed images and/or reduce the reliability of the printer. Thus, existing inkjet printers are configured to form ink images with a perceptible margin to ensure high quality printed output and reliable printing operations. Improvements to inkjet printers that enable the printers to produce full-bleed printed images or near full-bleed printed images with reduced margin sizes while also reducing the effects of ink contamination in the printer would be beneficial.